For the coloration of cellulose fiber-containing articles with an inorganic, organic or fluorescent coloring agent, there is known the method which comprises treating a cellulose fiber-containing textile substrate with a cationic compound in the first place and, then, immersing it in an aqueous solution containing a coloring agent and an anionic compound (Japanese Patent Application Kokai H-4-263678).
However, it is difficult, by the above prior art method, to uniformly treat a textile substrate with a cationic compound and the resultant uneven deposition of the coloring agent results in color shading and agglomeration problems. Moreover, because the coloring agent is anionic, the substrate is not fully covered with the anionic compound in the subsequent fixation treatment. This leads to a decrease in the color fastness to washing (laundering fastness) or the detachment of the coloring agent during laundering. Furthermore, in causing the cation-treated substrate to absorb the anionic coloring agent, the coloring agent tends to agglomerate due to interaction of charges so that no satisfactory dyeing effect can be obtained.